a fitting retrofit | a tale of two cities major advantage of this alternative. The identified new central districts can be developed at optimum density levels to integrate 15.2 million residents by 2030. While this alternative proposes some infrastructure corridors through the existing city (with an integrated road and transport system to high density employment nodes in Viana, Zango and Catete and low density high end development south-west of old Luanda) it doesn’t attempt an all-out remediation program for the central musseques. Preferred alternative - renew, expand and preserve The Integrated Urban and Infrastructure Master Plan for Luanda and Bengo (MP) draws on all three alternatives and many heated discussions, objective, evaluations, frequent trips, long meetings with the Ministry of Planning and Environment (MINUA), but most of all Dar’s deep knowledge of the social fabric and real understanding of the city’s needs. 5 6 and job-generating centers. • Tag the coastal area south-west of the city and home to a variety of rare animals and plants as an eco-tourism pole and nature’s sanctuary. Musseques Road and service infrastructure mapped onto the existing urban musseques will only affect a small number of the population that will have to be immediately relocated. It is however anticipated that musseques dwellers will naturally move to the newly established district-centers as those new areas will provide more employment opportunities and better living conditions. The existing musseques will be retrofitted with the vital infrastructure and services they currently lack, power and telecommunication, access to public transport, and waste collection, for those who chose to stay. District-centers Developed around one focal business, port, educational, touristic or industrial activity at significant infrastructure intersections, central development nodes are designed to complement the central pole: the existing city-center. Luanda’s central district will drive investment, acting as a gateway into the city and coordinating the multi-nodal activities. Flexibility is at the center of Luanda’s MP with limitless development schemes that can be devised within the same framework, zero interreliance, and no particular timeframe to stick to. The MP is adaptable enough to handle all model deviations and comprehensive enough to sustain the vision of a fully integrated and functional city for the next 35 years. Underlining the MP is a minimal environmental impact strategy with a principal objective to preserve ecological areas and save the Mussulo and Luanda Bays now threatened by contaminated storm water, raw sewage and polluting waste from Luanda’s Port. Luanda is waiting to unfurl its rich potential and shake off the remnants of a civil war that have been holding up its natural growth. Long considered a quagmire of despair Luanda’s infamous musseques - in more ways than one its beating heart - are at the center of Dar’s Urban Expansion Strategy for Angola’s capital. The dynamic musseques residents will once again reconnect with the rest of the city, reassert their character, make a difference and, with time, slowly infiltrate the new development nodes in search of new opportunities and a better life. Urban expansion strategy key component • Construct major infrastructure corridors through the existing built-up area to maximize accessibility and integrate all utilities and services. • Develop activity-based district-centers on major road and infrastructure intersections. • Regenerate existing emerging centers so they become fully autonomous gateways into the city center Old Luanda. They would be developed at high density, accommodating a mix of uses and absorbing a substantial part of anticipated population growth. • Expand the ring road network into the existing urban area to maximize the benefits of infrastructure. • Create new economic centers in Sassa, Bengo, Catete, and south-eastern Luanda; these centers have been identified as decentralized urban industrial, commercial or touristic poles 5 Urban renewal strategy 6 Direction of new growth 7 Environmental strategy green fingers 7 21